How to Play Road-Trip Games

Banish the all-too-familiar whine of "Are we there yet?" by keeping everyone in the car, young and old, occupied with these fun road-trip games.

Instructions

Step 1: Play the classic I Spy Choose a player to start. That person silently picks an object within sight and says, "I spy with my little eye, something that is..." and then says the color of their selected object. The player who guesses the object gets to go next.

Step 2: Search for license plates Try to identify license plates from various states. The player who racks up the most states by the end of the trip wins.

TIP: Play a variation of the license plate game by creating a phrase using the letters of a car's license plate. For example, EST could be "Eat Soft Tacos."

Step 3: Count the cows Play in teams or as individuals. Decide on a stopping point, and then try to locate as many cows -- or telephone poles, or phone booths, or anything you agree upon -- on your side of the road. If you pass a cemetery, you lose your points and will have to start over. The team with the most items upon arrival wins.

Step 4: Engage in a scavenger hunt Pass out a printed list of scavenger hunt items. To make the game more fun, research items and destinations along the route and include them in the hunt. The first person to locate all the items wins.

Step 5: Play the Alphabet Game Divide into teams and search for the letters of the alphabet in order on your side of the road. Look for letters in roadside signs, logos on trucks, or license plates. The first team to make it to the end of the alphabet wins.

Step 6: Try group storytelling Choose a person to start a story. After a few sentences, that first person points to another person, who continues the story. Try to make the story as wacky or scary as possible.

FACT: John Steinbeck dubbed U.S Highway 66, the famous Route 66, the "Mother Road" in his 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath.